Discerning Desires

I've always had a hard time discerning between my desires and God's desires for me.

What do I want?

What does God want?

Are our desires the same?

I used to be the kind of girl who made herself believe that all of her desires were also God's desires- even the selfish ones.

I want this, so that must mean God wants it for me too.

Yeah. Right.

I have journeyed through a hard, but very beautiful season of my life over the past few months. Through it, I grew to have a heart that desires one thing and one thing only; the Lord and our pursuit of one another.

Living with the type of mindset that consists of believing that your earthly, selfish desires are God's desires for your life serves as nothing but a red flag to your spiritual walk. This is a danger zone and you must stay away from entering it.  

Just because you desire something doesn't mean that God desires it for you, too. Do not satisfy your desires with false claims.

A lot of the time, our own desires entail nothing but bad decisions and consequences. Do you really think these are the kind of desires that God desires for His beloved (psst, that's you)? I sure hope not.

God desires the absolute best for you. He sees the best in you and wants to bring it out of you through your spiritual walk with Him and pursuit of one another.

Learning to discern between your desires and the Lord's desires for you is achieved through your spiritual disciplines, such as prayer and reading the Word. Constantly going in to prayer with your Father and placing yourself in the Word are two of the most important and rewarding things that you could ever do for yourself. It is through your practice of spiritual disciplines that God will grant you wisdom and discernment, as well as all of the things you need in order to move forward in your faith journey.

Empty your heart of your desires and ask God to fill it back up with His.

It's natural to have desires of your own, but you must learn how to set them aside and seek out God's desires for your life. I'm not saying that your desires aren't always going to match up with God's desires. They very well could, and certainly will at times. What I am saying, however, is that you must obtain a heart of contentment; a heart that is open and willing to what God wants; a heart that beats for Him; a heart that loves with the love He shows you.

"Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." -Psalm 37:4

When you take true delight in the Lord, your desires start to become more rooted in Him. These are the kind of desires that God will grant you as you take delight in Him because such desires are centered around Him. He wants your attention and your delight. He wants it all.

Reading about the process is one thing, but actually practicing it is another. This requires a lot of intentionality, time and effort on your end. But with the understanding that God created you, God wants you, and He wants you to want Him, our hearts should be more than willing to honor Him by getting to know Him and do life with Him.  

Ladies, God gave you this life and you are called to higher grounds because of it.  Through the process of your pursuit, know that God will reward you for making Him the focal point of your life and you will flourish. I guarantee it.

When we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, something wonderful happens: God begins to change our desires, and we want to be more like Him. -Joyce Meyer

About the Author :

Emily Lauren is a 20 year old southern girl who has a heart for loving Jesus, loving others, and serving the world. She is currently pursuing a degree in ministry as she continues to fall madly in love with Jesus by the day. Emily is also a lover of books, coffee, koalas, yoga, and the great outdoors.